Dolores Umbridge
Madam Undersecretary Professor Dolores Jane Umbridge (b. 26 August, year unknown) was a British half-blood7 witch and Ministry of Magic bureaucrat who served as Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic under Ministers Cornelius Fudge, Rufus Scrimgeour, and Pius Thicknesse. Physical appearance Dolores Umbridge was described to be a short squat woman resembling a large pale toad. She had a broad, flabby face, a wide, slack mouth, and little neck. Her eyes were bulging and pouchy, and in her mousy brown hair she often wore a black velvet bow, which reminded Harry of a fly perched dangerously above a toad, furthering Umbridge's toad-like characteristics. She spoke with a simpering high-pitched voice that was girlish and breathless, contrary to her appearance (Harry expected a croak) and decorated her office with kittens and other cute pink things. Her wide toad-like smile and tendency to speak in a sugary voice that has been described as poisoned honey is a physical exemplification of her cruelty that is barely hidden by her seemingly harmless dress-style. Umbridge's thick stubby fingers were adorned with several gaudy old rings. She also was said to have a big chest, as noted by Harry Potter when he saw Slytherin's locket lying there. Magical abilities and skills * Healing magic: Seeing as the cuts inflicted with her black quill would quickly close, if she did not have some skill with Healing spells, then she was at least not completely incapable of using them. * Nonverbal magic: She could write on a blackboard, turn out books and burn a paper, all by just raising or pointing her wand. She also offered Harry Potter drinks with Veritaserum in it by just flicking her wand and was capable of casting a non-verbal Stunning Spell. * Duelling: Though she was never shown in a proper duel, she showed no fear in attempting to subdue Albus Dumbledore albeit with Cornelius Fudge, John Dawlish, and Kingsley Shacklebolt (the latter two being aurors) backing her up suggesting that she may have some skill in this field. However, as easily predictable from the beginning, Dumbledore effortlessly defeated her and all of her ministry compatriots with a single spell far faster than they could even draw their wand against Dumbledore. * Transfiguration: The true extent of Umbridge's Transfiguration skills are unknown, though she was able to effectively conjure ropes at a moment's notice, which is an advanced form of Transfiguration. * Dark Arts: Umbridge was sure of her ability to cast the Cruciatus Curse, which would require the desire to inflict harm on the victim, her sadism being a perfect prerequisite. It is possible she contemplated using the Killing Curse on Harry and Hermione when she realised that they tricked her before the centaurs appeared.23 She invented the Black Quill, a dark magical torture device that cut the words written with it into the writer's hand. Furthermore, she had considerable skill with handling and commanding Dementors, known dark creatures. She successfully ordered several Dementors to attack and attempt to murder Harry Potter and Dudley Dursley, and was able to handle them sufficiently in other Ministry affairs, helped by her ability to cast the Patronus charm. * Charms: Umbridge was able to cast a Shield Charm strong enough to repel projectiles with ease in a fraction of a second.22 She could also conjure the highly advanced Patronus Charm (especially in a corporeal form) even under the influence of Dark Magic; in fact, due to her malice and the locket Horcrux being compatible with one other, her Patronus was strengthened by Voldemort's fragmented soul.19 It took the form of a Persian cat. Relationships Family Dolores was born a half-blood to wizard Orford Umbridge and muggle Ellen Cracknell, and has a younger brother, who is a squib. Harry Potter Dolores Umbridge did everything in her power to make Harry Potter's life as miserable as possible, and thus, the two of them had a mutual loathing for each other. In the summer of 1995, Umbridge sent two Dementors after Harry and his cousin Dudley. This was an attempt to silence him from contradicting the Ministry's official opinion that Voldemort had not returned. Umbridge was one of Harry's jurors when he was summoned to the Ministry for a trial of the underage magic he used to fend off the Dementors, and she wanted him to be convicted, but he was acquitted due to the efforts of Albus Dumbledore and Arabella Figg. Cornelius Fudge Umbridge was Cornelius Fudge's right-hand woman, being his Senior-Undersecretary, and he trusted her greatly to place her into Hogwarts to control it. He granted her many powers through Educational Decrees, and full-heartedly agreed with all of her comments and mockeries against Dumbledore and Harry. Ministry of magic As the Senior Undersecretary of the Minister for Magic, Umbridge was incredibly supportive of the aims of her superiors, Ministers Fudge, Scrimgeour, and Thicknesse. During their respective downfalls, however, Umbridge did not try to stand up for them, meaning that she only served them loyally for the power that she was offered, and felt no true attachments towards any of them. Some of her equals also respected her enough. In fact, Percy Weasley sent a letter to his younger brother, stating that Umbridge was a "truly delightful woman," and that Ron should side with her instead of continuing to associate with Harry. However, others, like Amelia Bones and Arthur Weasley, didn't appear to like her. Furthermore, some lower-ranking employees tended to talk ill of her behind her back, as seen when she was the Head of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission, when some pamphlet makers complained about her usage of Alastor Moody's magical eye to monitor them. She mainly keeps up the facade of a respectable official amongst most of her equals and superiors, but has no trouble tyrannising her subordinates. Minerva Mcgonagall Minerva McGonagall disliked Dolores Umbridge from the beginning, and their relationship only worsened over time. When the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher began to invade Hogwarts with her Hogwarts High Inquisitor position, she did everything she could in her power to circumvent Umbridge's authority without risking the loss of her job. During Umbridge's inspections of McGonagall's class, Minerva tried for the most part to ignore Dolores. This was difficult, due to Umbridge's constant interruptions of McGongall using her signature soft, girlish cough of "Hem hem". When forced to acknowledge Umbridge's presence, McGonagall treated her with a cold and harsh demeanour, much to the pleasure of many students. Fred and george weasley Fred and George Weasley hated Umbridge, who was appointed by the Ministry of Magic as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in 1995. Umbridge was a sadistic woman who enjoyed punishing and torturing students. Almost every resident of Hogwarts at the time hated Umbridge, but she particularly hated Harry Potter, Fred, and George. When George and Harry attacked Draco Malfoy after a Gryffindor — Slytherin Quidditch match, Umbridge kicked them off the team, along with Fred. Inquisitorial Squad Some of the Slytherin students as well as the caretaker, Argus Filch, happily supported Umbridge during her reign as the High Inquisitor and later Headmistress of Hogwarts; relating her cruelty and sadism with their own ambitions. In fact, Filch claimed that Umbridge was the best thing to happen to Hogwarts, falling for her ploy to gain his trust by rewarding him with, for example, permission to use torture as a form of punishment. Severus Snape The only Slytherin who did not support Dolores Umbridge during her tenure at Hogwarts was the Head of Slytherin House himself, Severus Snape. Like Harry, Snape hated Umbridge from the moment he set eyes on her for taking the post of Defence against the Dark Arts teacher. Like his colleagues, he did as little to help her as possible due to seeing her as the spoiled child she was. Because of this, Snape was the only one who could ignore Umbridge's insults and endure her tantrums. He was, however, not above subtle taunting as shown when he merely raised an eyebrow after she told him he was on probation or when he pointed out the foolishness in her use of the entire bottle of Veritaserum (which was fake) he gave her when she only needed three drops. Horace Slughorn Another Slytherin who never liked Umbridge was her Head of House Horace Slughorn; he did not nominate her to be Prefect nor Head Girl. He did not hesitate to express how he always considered her an "idiotic woman" and admitted that he never liked her in front of Harry, especially after hearing she foolishly called a herd of centaur "filthy half-breeds". Harry, sharing this contemptuous dislike for Umbridge, chuckled at Horace's comment. Other Hogwarts residents and teachers During her time as a student, Umbridge never truly enjoyed her time at Hogwarts, and being denied any position of power (i.e. Prefect, Head Girl) made her resent the establishment. Upon being installed by Fudge as a teacher, Umbridge saw it as a golden opportunity to get revenge against the school that did not (as she saw it) give her her due. Dumbledore's army Dumbledore's Army was an organisation founded by Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger and led by Harry, in order to teach the members Defence Against the Dark Arts, something that Umbridge didn't. Dumbledore's Army was also an organisation founded in order to directly oppose Umbridge and her supporters. When Umbridge found out about the organisation, she utilised the powers of Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four to have them all expelled, but failed due to Dumbledore taking the blame. "Half-breeds" and "mudbloods" Umbridge always had a prejudiced view on those who were part-humans. She used the derogatory term "half-breed," and treated them particularly horribly. This extended to creatures that looked like part-humans, but were in fact a separate breed, such as centaurs, merpeople, and werewolves, as she either mistook them to be human-animal hybrids or simply found their appearances of being partially human revolting. Regardless of her definition of "half-breeds," she was extremely cruel to them, writing an anti-werewolf legislation so they could barely find employment, and campaigning for merpeople to be rounded up and tagged. Death eaters Although Umbridge was not a Death Eater, and had no direct contact with Lord Voldemort, she showed that she was fairly in line with their goals. This was due to Umbridge's callous nature, prejudiced beliefs (both of which were similar to Death Eater behaviour) and her antagonism and disrespect to Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore, whom she tried to hinder or thwart on several occasions. Umbridge seemed to be on friendly terms with Lucius Malfoy, a known Death Eater who had close connections with the Ministry. Etymology ** Jane is a sweet name for a girl, adding a cruel irony to her nomenclature. Because her middle name is "Jane," J.K. Rowling changed Hermione Granger's middle name (which was also Jane) to "Jean" in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. ** "Umbridge" is a pun on the English "umbrage" meaning "offence or insult," indicates that Dolores Umbridge is destined to do only harm and cause only unhappiness. It also symbolises how she is offended by any challenge to her limited world-view and her secretive nature. "Umbrage", which came from the Middle French "ombrage" and ultimately from the Latin "umbra" is a word whose meaning has evolved over time. Originally, Umbrage meant shadow or shade, then it evolved to refer to that which provides shadow or shade, then took on the meaning semblance or suspicion, and eventually to the suspicion that one has been slighted and its present meaning. ** Appearances * LEGO Harry Potter: Characters of the Magical World * LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 * Harry Potter for Kinect * LEGO Harry Potter * The Making of Harry Potter (Mentioned only) * Harry Potter: The Character Vault * Harry Potter: The Creature Vault (Mentioned only) * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Mentioned only) *